The verification of the authenticity of an item is often done by labelling the item with a distinguishable piece of identification. Traditionally such identification is the label bearing the maker's name and product name, but the ability to reproduce such labels by counterfeiters has required more sophisticated solutions. Identification techniques currently used include engraving, holograms, two dimensional bar codes, referred to as QR codes, and identifiers using radio frequency, commonly referred to as RFID tags, and which include near field communication (NFC) tags as a subset of RFID tags. The RFID tags are not as easily copied and are more expensive to produce, and so act as a deterrent to the counterfeiter. The tags can be scanned to identify the manufacturer and indicate if an item is authentic or otherwise fraudulent. Although the tags are harder to copy, tags may be substituted from one product of the manufacturer to another and for high value goods the cost of manufacturing the tags is offset by the large profit available.
RFID tag readers and RFID tags function through the use of electromagnetic modulation. To read an NFC tag, the NFC reader emits an electromagnetic field with specific properties to interact with the tag. The tag becomes powered by the reader itself after interaction has occurred allowing the tag to modulate the electromagnetic field. The modulated field is then read and analysed by the reader and the information transferred from the tag to the reader, thus allowing for the data to be processed.
Reading identification tags often requires specialized hardware. The hardware is typically considered expensive to purchase and maintain. The readers may also require direct line of sight of the tag itself to read the data that is contained in/on it. In particular RFID card readers are expensive and are highly specialized to the task of reading identification cards.
The process of fabricating products may be performed under strictly controlled environments and access to the tags themselves restricted within the manufacturing environment. Such a controlled environment ensures that the opportunity to tamper with a product before deployment is reduced.
However, the volume of identification tags that are required in a large manufacturing concern creates a problem in maintaining control of the issued tags. Large quantities of identification tags can become lost in sizeable manufacturing operations, or may be discarded with items rejected for quality control purposes. The integrity of the tags are at risk, since if genuine tags become lost they can be applied to fraudulent items and still be scanned to indicate that they are genuine.
Increased security can be obtained by using a more sophisticated identification method. The increase in complexity of the tag increases the cost per tag. RFID tags with active cryptographic functionality are powered and are typically more expensive than their passive unpowered counterparts, such as NFC tags. Powered RFID tags contain a security chip as well as challenge and response based cryptographic functions.
Where cryptographic functionality is available, data can be digitally signed to increase the reliability of the underlying data. Signatures are used to check the authenticity of data that has been signed. If a signature is not recognized during the verification stage an error will normally occur. Signatures can be applied to various types of data strings. However, the verification of the signature only indicates that the tag has been signed by the manufacturer or producer and does not indicate the origins of the product to which the tag is applied.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate the above disadvantages.